Douglas County Georgia

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Douglas County News

NEW ADVANCE VOTING SITE FOR OLDER ADULTS ESTABLISHED

Douglasville, GA - For the first time in the history of Douglas County, Georgia, the Douglas County Board of Elections and Registration Department has decided to provide a 6th advance voting location geared to older adults age 55 and older, serving Douglas County's largest voting block of residents.

"We are trying to accommodate all our voting citizens but also increase our customer service focusing on Douglas County's older adult population," said County Elections Director Milton Kidd. "Older adults are very active voters in the county and demonstrate their civic duty by being the most in attendance at the Commissioners' Work Sessions, Commission Meetings and various other events."

The largest number of voters during Advance Voting visit the Courthouse, but older adults have expressed concerns of how challenging voting at the courthouse is for them. As a result, the Elections and Registration Department has coordinated with the Woodie Fite Senior Center to provide a secured area for older adults to vote in the Woodie Fite Senior Center located at 8750 Dorris Road, Douglasville, Ga. 30134.

"This is a large, strategic, coordinated effort to prepare for what is anticipated to be a very vast voter turnout for the 2020 election cycle," said Rick Martin, Director of Communications and Community Relations Department. "Our Board of Elections and Registration Department Team hosted a meeting recently with our External Affairs Department, Senior Services Director, Woodie Fite Senior Center Director and I to come up with a game plan to serve older adults in Douglas County during the upcoming elections."

"Too often our older adults have expressed they feel forgotten," Rick Martin, Director of Communications & Community Relations for Douglas County said. "The Board of Commissioners, through Douglas County's Board of Elections Department, is committed to make sure that will not be the case."

The County intends to run shuttle van services from the Douglas County Transportation Center and the Courthouse to the Woodie Fite Center and other county locations. Free transportation for voting purposes only will be provided, but must be scheduled 24 hours in advance. Any citizens interested are asked to call 770-920-7213 to schedule a pick up. The Woodie Fite Senior Center is an adult recreation and educational facility for those over the age of 55, and is a part of Douglas County Senior Services that serves active adults with specialized activities and fitness to help promote healthy aging.

Cobb & Douglas Public Health (CDPH) is preparing internally and working with our partners, including the local governments, healthcare organizations, businesses, first responders, and local school districts to ensure our community is prepared for a potential COVID-19 outbreak.

LIBERTY ROAD BRIDGE CLOSURE GDOT will be closing the Liberty Road bridge over I-20 beginning June 1st to do improvements to the bridge. The bridge work will be similar to the work GDOT performed at Post Road and several other locations along I-20. GDOT anticipates the bridge will be closed for 45 days.

The detour route will be as follows:

Vehicles on Liberty Road headed north to points north of I-20, will be directed to take I-20 east to Post Road, turn left on Post Road, cross over the bridge there and take I-20 west back to the Liberty Road/Mirror Lake Blvd interchange. They can then exit at the westbound ramp at that interchange and turn right to continue northbound on Mirror Lake Blvd.

Similarly, vehicles traveling southbound on Liberty Road to areas south of I-20 will be directed to take I-20 west to SR 61, take the westbound exit ramp, turn left on SR 61 and cross over the bridge at that location, then take I-20 east back to Liberty Road and exit at the Liberty Road interchange then turn right to proceed southbound on Liberty Road.